This book is a very informative look at a single year in American history. I liked learning about the British and Loyalist point of view as well as the problems Washington had in keeping the army together. The portraits, letters and the maps also add to the experience.

At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Jamestown, and killing more than 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal. Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.

this book was surprisingly enjoyable. it didnt really go anywhere plot-wise, as it's just a bunch of ramblings from the characters, journal-style. it ended the way it began: fragmented and confusing. but that's okay, because it's still an enjoyable read. it's like delving through someone's personal letters or diary - you know you shouldnt pry but you just cant help it!

the characters are shallow, rotten people. i think that's what makes it so damn interesting. you dont really care what happens to them but you're not surprised when it's bad because, hell, they probably deserved it since they're self-absorbed anyway.

i doubt this novel is a 100%, true reflection of college life in 80s america. i'm sure it's been exaggerated for shock value. however, i think at least 10% of its content provides the reader with an insight into a small portion of that life.

if another bret easton ellis novel came across my desk i'd probably read it.

watch the movie. if interested in ellis, read american psycho.

A young mother, expecting her first baby & also a mother to her husband's 2 sons learns that her own mother has a terminal illness. Her mother then comes to live with her family. The interplay between birth & approaching death, new life & the end of life is handled poignantly & with grace.

An average man with an average American wife & children experiences an unusual disaster to his family & community which is covered up by (presumably) the government.

A woman whose husband has left her rents out the rooms in her house to make money & discovers romance.

Samantha (Sam) Morrow doesn't understand why her husband, David, wants a divorce. Suddenly, she finds herself with a mortgage to pay, job skills that extend only to lead singer in a rock band, a preteen son, and overwhelming grief. So she maxes out David's credit cards and calls Martha Stewart for help. Sam listens to advice from her mother and her best friend but doesn't necessarily take it; for the first time in her life, she is thinking for herself. The boarders she decides to take in give her a new viewpoint; she gets a job as a temp and sees the world differently after each assignment. Finally, she meets a man named King, who is completely different from her ex-husband, and she slowly realizes how different men can be. By the time Sam has regained her equilibrium, she is a new person. When David decides he wants to "come home," she does not hesitate to tell him that it is too late.

Perhaps not as good of some of Berg's other novels, but interesting characters.

This one took a little bit to get into, but once it picked up I couldn't put it down. A quick read, alternating stories between present and past. Recommended.

I only read about 20 pages and then gave up. I suspect I gave up because I had a Dick Francis waiting. The Dick Francis was OK, but I probably should have read this one. It's probably a better novel. Had it not been due back to the library, I might have tried it again.